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The Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Band (HKYSB) of the Music Office will showcase an array of splendid band favourites in its Annual Concert on June 3. The concert, with its title "An-Ching (Song of Bliss)" suggesting peace and bright skies, is also being held to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
The music piece "An-Ching" was written by local composer Professor Richard Tsang in celebration of the establishment of the HKSAR in 1997. It is meaningful to perform this joyful and vital piece again at this special occasion.
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "An-Ching (Song of Bliss) Hong Kong Youth Symphonic Band Annual Concert" will be held at 3pm on June 3 (Sunday) at the Auditorium of Sha Tin Town Hall. The band will perform under the baton of the Music Office's instructor Pak Wing-heng and three guest conductors, Colin Touchin, Professor Tsang and John Cheng.
Other than featuring "An-Ching", the concert will also see British composer Touchin lead the band to perform his work "Eclipse", which depicts magnificent astronomical scenery, and there will be an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture", which was originally composed for orchestra performance. The concert will showcase the adapted piece that Cheng arranged for a symphonic band.
Other programme highlights include Rossini's lively solo clarinet work "Introduction, Theme and Variations", Adam Gorb's "Yiddish Dances for Symphonic Wind Orchestra", Alfred Reed's "Giligia (A Song of Remembrance)", Fu Zhang's "Chinese Folk Suite" and Rachmaninoff's "Music from Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor" arranged by Cheng.
The HKYSB has successfully nurtured several generations of young musicians since its establishment in 1978. It currently has almost 70 members aged 12 to 25. The band has performed with distinguished guest musicians and bands in Hong Kong and overseas, including the Central Band of the United Kingdom Royal Air Force, the Tanunda Band of Australia, the Regimental Band of the Green Jackets, and youth bands in Canada, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and Singapore. The band has also performed under the baton of many noted conductors like Bruce Pearson and Vondis Miller from the United States, Eric Banks from the United Kingdom, Felix Hauswirth from Switzerland and Li Fang-fang from Beijing.
In 1986, the HKYSB made a highly successful concert tour to Japan and was invited to participate in the Fifth Pacific Basin Festival in Hawaii, the US, in 1990. In 1993, the band visited Australia to give performances in concerts and undertake music exchanges. The band also participated in the 2001 Jeju Summer Band Festival organised by Jeju City in Korea. In 2008, the band was invited by the Kagoshima Prefectural Government of Japan to take part in a cultural exchange concert tour.
Tickets priced at $80, $60 and $40 for the concert are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price concessions are available for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 and above, people with disabilities and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients. Credit card booking can be made at 2111 5999, and Internet booking can be made at www.urbtix.hk.
For programme enquiries, please call 2796 1003 or 2582 5311 or visit the website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/MusicOffice/en/events_2012_04_25b.php#content.
Ends/Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:43
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